Performance, Direction, and Control: Using Procedural Methods in Filmmaking

Abstract

Computer-generated characters play starring roles in today's feature
films. Directors, Art Directors, and Concept Artists relentlessly
demand
that any computer-generated characters stand up in both visual and
physical
realism to their live-action counterparts. This push has made
multi-layered clothing, skin with underlying musculoskeletal structures
and
the use of rigid bodies commonplace in their design and costuming.
Physically based simulation methods play a key role in imparting a new
level of physical realism into these computer graphics elements. The
challenge of employing this level of proceduralism is also providing
methods for directing the resulting performances. This talk will
outline
the control issues and specialization required to evolve these
technologies, deeply rooted in academic research, into effective
filmmaking
tools.

About the Speaker

Sebastian M. Marino is the research lead for simulation related software
development at Industrial Light + Magic. He has worked on several
feature
films including The Perfect Storm, The Mummy Returns, Jurassic Park III,
A.I. Artificial Intelligence and is currently wrapping up work on Star
Wars
Episode II: Attack of the Clones. In March 2002 Sebastian received a
Technical Achievement Award from the Motion Picture Academy of America,
along with four of his colleagues, for the development of the ILM
Creature
Dynamics System which facilitates the simulation of the clothing, flesh
and
hair of computer-generated characters.
Contact: bac-coordinators@cs.stanford.edu